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Master of the Bones
Master of the Bones is the third encounter in Muri Mortuorum. Enemies *Skeleton Warrior (1235 Gold, 152 XP, 95 Energy, 7 HP) * Shukra the Summoner (1235 Gold, 152 XP, 95 Energy, 7 HP) Transcript Introduction "So I was thinking..." Hugh begins. "Great..." Tessa mutters. She rolls her eyes. The flabby pie man glares at her. "As I was saying...I've been thinking." "It's true," Brachus adds. "I was there." "Is everyone a bloody jester today?" Tessa sighs. "Fine...Let's hear it" "So, back in the forest we found a zombie master, and player name here blew its sodding brains up. Bloody good work that, by the way." "Thanks,"you reply. "Anyway, that made the rest of the zombies drop like merchants who've just seen their blooming tax bills. So, maybe we could find another zombie master in here. And maybe a skeleton master. If we do them in, problem solved!" "I don't think these undead have a master. Not like that, anyway. They're more intelligent." "Well, it's worth a sodding try, isn't it?" "Perhaps I could ascertain the truth by eating another brain?"Brachus suggests. "No! Just...no." "Here's a skeleton,"Tessa says, gesturing further up the passage. "Why don't you ask it?" The creature she indicated is standing at the intersection of your passage and another. He...or she -- you confess to being at a loss when it comes to determining a skeleton's sex -- is wearing the tattered vestiges of what looks to be tribal garb. The remains of a headdress adom its fleshless skull, and dangle down at either side of its neck. There's a cape fastened around its narrow shoulders, its collar area decorated by a large animal claws that have been painted red. The garb reminds you of a which doctor's. Hugh saunters torwards it. "Oi, bone-boy,"he says, "do you have a sodding master?" Tessa sighs. "I was joking, Hugh..." "Master?" the skeleton replies. His voice is distinctly male, even if his body isn't, and bears a strange accent. You suspect it comes from one of the East Krunan jungle tribes, though you can't place which one. "You know," Hugh says, "some bloody heap of bones that's in charge of you lot." "Shukra has no masters! Shukra is master of the bones!" The skeleton raises arms, bony palms upward as though lifting an invisible weight. His eyes flash. Fleshless limbs erupt from the bones of the walls on either side, clawing their way out of the churned up earth. Skulls follow... Conclusion "Shukra is mighty!" the skeleton cries. "Shukra commands the bones! Shukra was the master of the jungle, and made the tribes quiver in fear!" Shukra's skeletons echo his cackle, their jaws moving as one. The effect is... unsettling. You shatter the nearest one's mandible to put a stop to it. "Shukra was killed, but Shukra returned -- and killed all the tribesman who raised their hands against him! And their kin! Shukra was brought to this land by the markgraf! The markgraf saw that Shukra is strong! Shukra-" "...talks too much,"Tessa finishes. An arrow flies from her bow. It hits him on the forhead and shatters his skull. The loquacious jaw falls to the grass. Shukra raises his right arm and shakes his fist at her. Another arrow shatters that too. Two more make a ruin of his ribcage. The rest of his frame yeilds and falls apart -- not waiting for more projectiles. The light in the other skeletons' eyes vanish, leaving only bone and shadow. They collapse with impressive synchronicity, littering the ground with dispersed remains. Hugh turns around ans beams at you. "Told you!"he says. "That didn't destroy the rest of the skeleton in this place," you reply. "I can still hear them clicking around." He shrugs his shoulders. "Still bloody well counts." Category: Muri Mortuorum